EPISODE 91

IN WHICH APOLLO LENDS THEM A WELCOME HAND

Previously: The Argonauts are still trying to return to their homeland. They have just succeeded in escaping the Sirens and the monsters Charybdis and Scylla. But Jason does not feel easy in his mind…

The Argonauts woke up joyful, glad to have been able to rest at last. They were going to alight on the island of Crete and already its shoreline was becoming visible. It was then that an enormous boulder of rock came crashing down a few feet away from the ship. As it fell into the sea, the rock raised great waves which drenched the ship’s deck. Where had this rock come from? From a bright dot which seemed to be placed somewhere high on the island’s shores. Jason shaded his eyes with his hand so that he would not be blinded by the light. And what he discovered was horrifying. A gigantic metal form was grabbing rocks and aiming them straight at them.

“It is the Giant Talus, the son of Hephaestus,” murmured Medea beside him. “He is the guardian of Crete. He is almost invincible.”

Jason looked at Medea and, seeing the small grin on her face, he guessed that she already had a plan.

“Almost invincible? Why almost?” he asked.

“Because there is a flaw in his metallic body,” answered Medea. “It is a little vein at the heel, in which his entire life force is hidden. If this vein bursts, Talus dies.”

The young woman kept her eyes on the Giant’s form. Behind her, the Argonauts trembled with fear. Medea was not afraid, she was concentrating. Soon she began to pronounce magic spells.

Talus suddenly saw men appearing before him, who grabbed hold of him. Livid with rage, he became agitated, chased them, thought he had quashed them, but others still continued to appear. Or perhaps they were the same ones, he did not know. And these men never stopped trying to climb onto him. They were visions, sent by the sorceress Medea. These visions drove Talus mad. He had no idea what he was doing any more. As he was kicking his legs right and left to get rid of his assailants, his heel struck violently against the edge of a rock. His life vein burst and Talus fell dead on the spot. The heavy colossus of metal crashed on the ground. Once more, the Argonauts had been saved by Medea.

A black veil fell across the sea. The sun disappeared and the Argonauts were plunged into the night. There wasn’t a glimmer of light, nothing to steer the ship by. How could they advance in this total darkness without risking crashing into a cliff? They were seized by a great anxiety, as though death were on the prowl, coming to take them by the hand. Was the disappearance of the light a final trial? Would they ever come through this? The days went by in that same deep blackness and became indistinguishable from the night. Sometimes one of the seamen sobbed. There was nothing to eat or drink any more. It was impossible to find their way or to make landfall somewhere to replenish their supplies.

Jason did not know to whom to turn at this point. This was when with a rending cry he began to beseech Apollo, the god of Light. “O great Apollo, come to our rescue! Do not let us wander in the shadows like this. Our error was immense, we have certainly committed many errors, but please show us the way out of the night. I implore you, shed your light upon us.” On Olympus, Apollo heard Jason’s cry. In spite of Zeus’ wrath, Apollo decided to send a ray of light to the unhappy crew. He hurled a shaft of flames which tore through the night. Thanks to their gleam, the Argonauts saw that they were approaching an island. They had been saved.

That night, Jason’s companions slept on firm land. This time too Jason was the only one who did not sleep. He kept watch through the night.

 

To be continued…